Early Hospitals
The Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital complex we know today has its roots in our convict settlement.
In 1824 this settlement was set up at Redcliffe as a place of secondary punishment. The following year when Redcliffe proved unsuitable it was moved to what was known as Brisbane Town, taking its name from the then Governor of New South Wales, Sir Thomas Brisbane. Clearly there had to be a hospital but it was not for two years that one was built to house 30 patients. By 1829 there were 87 crammed into it. The hospital was cited towards the western end of settlement and not far back from the river. It was, however, somewhat ominously close to the burial ground. Towards the end of the 1830’s convictism was nearing its end and by 1839 all convicts were withdrawn except for those necessary to the settlement. The formal end came in 1842.
But what happened to the hospital? Between 1842 and 1848 the hospital?s future was most uncertain. Dr Ballow had been the Government Medical Officer since 1838 and he argued during this period for the hospital to remain open. There were still convicts to be treated, there were their soldier guards but also there were increasing numbers of free settlers. It was agreed that the latter could be admitted – but “positively not without paying?. A Benevolent Society was formed in 1844 to assist with the expenses of the “deserving poor?. . However,the order to close the hospital came abruptly on 31 January 1848 with patients turned out onto the street and Dr Ballow dismissed. Through the efforts of Captain John Wickham, the Police Magistrate, and Dr Ballow the solution was found whereby the hospital was “given? to a Committee of Gentlemen who then set about running the Moreton Bay Hospital on the voluntary principle (i.e. the public purse provided £200 which was to be matched by public subscription).
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